Orwell's Vision Of The English Language

1. Argument: Everyone is corrupting the English language, making it become a set of prefabricated clichés by the use of ambiguous phrases and jargon and euphemistic words for political ends.

2. Examples of Irony:

· The fact that Orwell ends the Operators or False Limbs section with “and so on and so forth” after saying that such anticlimax endings are to be avoided is ironic.

· Orwell begins to write political writing after fallaciously alleging that it is definitely bad writing is ironic as well.

3. Definitions:

· Dying Metaphors: These are worn-out metaphors which have lost their original meaning and merely exist to spare people the trouble of inventing original phrases for themselves (ex. Play into the hands of).

· Pretentious Diction: Scientific impartiality to biased judgments through the use of words like phenomenon, exhibit, element. International politics makes use of words like epoch-making, epic, and historic. Words to glorify war are based on archaic language like realm, throne, chariot, while foreign words and expressions (e.g. cul de sac, deus ex machina) are used to give an air of culture and elegance. Also, the replacement of Saxon words by Greek and Latin words for scientific terms because they sound more “professional”.

· Meaningless words: Words like romantic, plastic, values, and human are as meaningless as the word Fascism (as something not desirable) and democracy (as something good).

4. Some Habits Of Highly Effective Writers:

· What am I trying to say?

· What words will express it?

· What image or idiom will make it clearer?

· Is this image fresh enough to have any effect?

· Can I put it more shortly?

· Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

· Avoid lack of precision.

· Avoid staleness of imagery.

· Avoid the not un- formation.

· Let the meaning choose the word… not the other way around.

· Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

· Never use a long word where a short one will do.

· If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

· Never use the passive when you can use the active.

· Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

· Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.